shot as 19 countries and territories have confirmed cases of this new variant, omicron, including japan, which reported its first case i don't ever ni -- overnight. no known cases in the u.s. president biden says while there is cause for some concern, we should not panic. and the administration does not anticipate any more travel bannings or crucially new lockdowns here in this country. the white house is planning to release more extensive guidance on thursday. >> to be clear right now, there is still a lot we don't know about the omicron variant because as we know this virus is evolving, scientists stressing this is a good time to be patient. those answers will come. it could take a couple of weeks. in the meantime, officials and health experts stress one of the most important thing you can do is get vaccinated, or if you have the shots, get your booster. there's a lot of focus on the markets, not just because of the variant but because moments from now fed chairman jerome powell

and treasury secretary janet yellen are set to testify about the threats the new variant could pose to the u.s. economy. we'll bring you updates from that testimony as it happens. let's begin at the white house. cnn correspondent john harwood is there. interesting message, balanced message from biden yesterday. we're concerned, let's not panic, no plannings for lockdowns, and get your booster shot. what is the administration's plan going forward? >> reporter: as you both indicated, the critical factor to keep in mind right now is what we don't know, but also the market turbulence that erica alluded to just now is an indication of how interrelated all these issues are. that is to say the more uncertainty there is about the omicron variant, the more uncertainty about the persistence of the pandemic and the severity of the pandemic, the more uncertain the economic recovery is going to be, the tempering of inflation is going to be. all of the knock-on effects of

this pandemic are -- have a big question mark over them now because of this omicron variant. what the president is saying is let's look at what we know. what we know is that vaccination and boosters is the most important intervention that we can take. in addition to that, there is masking, even if you're vaccinated, to try to prevent the occurrence of breakthrough infections and the spread of those who are not yet vaccinated. that is a critical element. he's got to try to break through that vaccine resistance. we have 70% of the american people who have gotten at least one shot, but we have not reached anywhere close to 70% of americans fully vaccinated. so that has got to be the overwhelming goal at the same time the pharmaceutical companies are exploring whether or not they need to alter their vaccine regimen in order to respond to omicron. again, that's one of the question marks. exactly how severe is illness if you get it, how much more transmissible is it going to be,

is it going to overtake the delta variant as the principal source of the pandemic. we don't know the answer, but the administration is trying to project to the american people, we see this, we're on it, prepare them for the steps that may have to be taken. and even the statements the president made about no more lockdowns, there's a question mark over that, too, because if this turns out to be as severe as some people fear, we don't know what will be required to respond to it. >> which is why it's interesting to know, the president was clear, for now, which of course would make it a lot easier if things needed to change by getting those words in there as a caveat. john harwood, thank you. at least 70 countries and territories have imposed some travel restrictions on a handful of african nations because of that omicron variant. officials in south africa doubling down on criticism of those bans while also stressing

the importance of vaccine equity. >> david mckenzie joins us from johannesburg. this exposes an issue that the vaccination rates, much higher in south africa, and that seems to be a factor here. what's the response been locally both to omicron but also to the advance? >> jim, erica, there's a real sense of disappoint, i would say. that's a very mild way of putting it, from the scientists and the leadership in south africa and throughout much of the african continent for what they perceive as punitive measures of these bans, which, despite the anger and the complaints, keep on expanding to more and more countries and territories so that this region is effectively blocked off from large parts of the world. scientists i've been speaking to say while it might seem logical to shut down your borders to try and buy some time, as president biden put it, the time has already run out, most likely, they say because this variant, even though it was announced

quickly, is already probably much more widespread than the testing suggests. i want to mention, i just got back from a couple of key labs in this part of the country. one was credited with actually discovering this variant. they saw the anomalies in their pcr tests, so anyone yo kwho's gone for a covid test knows that kind of test. we've all had to do it, particularly when we travel. they noticed there was a drop-off in that test that suggested that there was a variant or at least a type of the virus that was more similar in some ways to the alpha variant which developed in the uk and was noticed there. after a few weeks of this and noticing that positive cases were rising, they quickly alerted the national authorities and sequenced this and put the information out. it was that combination of kind of on the ground detective work and the national scientists sequencing this that put the word out to everyone. i even hesitate to say this, but

another top scientist i just spoke to said they are also noticing that many of these cases are mild cases of the virus. it might be too early to hope for a best-case scenario. and we certainly have to wait a few weeks. but i thought i should put that out there because it is a fascinating development if that turns out to be true. but several weeks are needed to see the clinical impact on the ground here as cases rise fast. jim, erica? >> david, appreciate the reporting. thank you. joining us is dr. sanjay gupta, cnn's chief medical correspondent. sanjay, pick up where david left off because he was talking about mild infection, a doctor who has treated and vaccinated individuals himself in south africa with the variant had this to say about how they were presenting earlier. take a listen. >> the majority of what we are presenting to primary health care practitioners are extremely

mild cases, light to moderate. and so these patients, they don't need to be hospitalized for now. >> so that sounds like good news, but when do we have a real sense of how the vaccines stand up against this variant? >> it can still take a couple of weeks to sort of answer that question, how well the vaccines work. i mean, there's two things that are happening simultaneously. one is they're doing laboratory studies where they're taking the blood of people who have been vaccinated and putting it in a test tube with the virus and basically seeing how well that blood neutralizes the virus. that gives you some idea of how well the vaccines work. also then looking at real-world data in place where is this omicron variant is spreading, what's happening there. are hospitalization rates going up? i was doing a deeper dive into some of the health ministry data out of south africa, if you look

at one profits specifically over the last few weeks have where johannesburg is located, you see an uptick in hospitalizations. they're starting from a low number, you know, 135 three weeks ago, but more than tripling now, you know, just to a week ago. is that due to this variant? we don't know. it's sort of their late springtime over there, so this is probably not flu. the weather is getting warmer. typically hospitalizations go down. that's the sort of data they're going to be looking at. one thing i will say is that in south africa right now, delta was not a dominant strain right now, sort of the quiet time before this omicron started to spread. so it wasn't out competing delta so the speak. that's different than here in the united states and many places in europe where delta's clear dominant. so i don't know that we can say that because it became dominant in south africa the same thing will happen in other places around the world. >> so in terms of time frame, we've heard different estimates

of how long it will be before we know how effective existing vaccines are against omicron. you've heard dr. fauci say one or two weeks, i believe the moderna ceo said as long as six weeks. is there any data to date that gives you an indication of the answer to that and if not, how long before you expect to have enough data to make a judgment? >> i think it's just tough. you know, i mean, when you look at these specific variants, even in the past, they created, for example, a delta-specific vaccine in the past, didn't end up needing i would because the existing vaccines work. they did the same with the previous variant, beta. didn't end up needing it because the vaccines work. both things are happening simultaneously. they're doing laboratory studies, looking at world data, working on omicron, specific shots, but it's probably at least a couple weeks. when i talk to a lot of these vaccine makers on background, what they say is there's a huge

cushion effect usually with these vaccines. that cushion effect is likely to be reduced as a result of omicron and all the mutations they see. but they still think that the vaccines are going to be effective, maybe just a slight erosion of that effectiveness. >> interesting. >> they still work. that's the important thing. as we know, we keep hearing get your booster if you haven't already. i want to ask you about this antiviral pill. fda advisers are meeting to talk about emergency use authorization. there's been a lot of hope put into that pill. it's not a replacement for vaccines. what do you anticipate will happen? why is there so much focus on that pill? >> well, this would be -- if it does get authorized, it would be the first antiviral pill. there are other medications to treat covid the try and keep people from getting in the hospital, but i think we can show you some of is data here. basically they look to people who have been diagnosed but were not sick enough to go to the hospital and tried to figure out how much benefit does this offer. so you can see the numbers there

on the screen. people should pay attention to this. people who receive a placebo had close to a 10% chance of going to a hospital. those who received a pill about a 6.8% to 7% chance of going to the hospital. reduce the risk by 30%. it's not a home run, but, again, it could potentially be the first antiviral if this does get authorized. if you compare this to something like monoclonal antibodies, something else designed to keep people from going to the hospital, the risk reductions are 70%, so much more effective. it's an infusion, far more expens expensive, all those things with the monolclonal antibodies. it's not a home run but could be helpful. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thank you so much for working our way through this. >> thank you. with the omicron variant raising new questions, anderson cooper and dr. gupta come together with dr. anthony fauci

for a town hall, "coronavirus facts and fears" tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. eastern. chance to answer your questions. still to come this hour, chuck schumer hoping to begin debate on president biden's build back better bill by the second week of december. one key democrat, though, west virginia senator, joe manchin, says, i home you're sitting down for this, he's still undecided. plus, former president trump's lawyers back this court in another attempt to keep his communications from january 6th a secret. jury selection beginnings this hour in the case against the former minnesota police officer accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old dante wright during a traffic stop turned arrest. superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work?

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on capitol hill this morning, democrats racing to pass their legislative agenda before christmas. senate majority leader chuck schumer says he wants debate on president biden's build back better bill by the second week of december, this according to two democratic sources. >> he will need unity, though, among all 50 in his caucus for that bill to move forward. cnn chief congressional correspondent manu raju is live on capitol hill. manu, i feel a bit like a broken record, but one democrat says he is still undecided. >> yeah. this is the situation we have seen much of this past year, that all senate democrats are simply not on board largely because of one holdout, joe manchin of west virginia. he still has concerns with the

bill that passed the house earlier this month. he wants changes to the bill ranging from the expansion of medicare proposed, removing the paid leave provisions that are part of the house bill, among other issues he wants out of the bill, paring it back. he made clear to me yesterday he is not ready to move forward on debating this bill. remember, to get to that first procedural vote, which chuck schumer, the majority leader, wants to happen the week of december 13th, all 50 senate democrats need to vote yes to begin debate. yesterday when i asked him if he was willing to vote on that, he still wasn't there. >> really concerned about the gas prices, and trying to talk to people with knowledge about that and the inflation going on and, you know, what's the forecast for that. a lot of people are hurting. i heard an awful lot over the thanksgiving break that, you know, prices were high and people were very much upset about that, and they're concerned about our inflation getting worse. >> reporter: are you going to

vote yes to proceed with the bill? >> we have to see what we have. >> reporter: there's an expectation that kyrsten sinema, the other moderate democrat, will ultimately get behind this bill. she's voiced potential support privately, said things publicly that have been positive to the democrats so there's a belief she'll get on board. where will manchin come down? if they ultimately get manchin behind this bill, it will be changed significantly from what the house passed, so that means they would to send it back to the house, get this out and please progressives who are concerned about the number of compromises they had to make to pare back $3.5 trillion to pass the house with roughly ly $2 trillion. there's still a question here in the senate. >> certainly is. manu raju, thank you. two lawmakers at polar opposites of the political spectrum taking their feud public. democratic representative ilhan

omar and gop congresswoman lauren boebert did speak by phone on monday after some horrific islamic comments boebert made about omar. >> in that call, omar asked for a public apology. boebert refused instead saying omar should apologize to the american people for what she said were anti-american, anti-smetdic, anti-police statements. the call did little to calm those tensions. omar said she hung up on boebert. dana bash has been covering this. it's like the adult equivalent of a schoolyard "i know you are, what am i." are the players happy with letting this bubble up in public? >> i think that congresswoman boebert seems to be happy with it bubbling up in public. she 's the one who, to go back to your schoolyard, she started it. i mean, she did. this is about this particular

incident, but it's about so much more. you and i were talking about this before coming on. this is an extreme version of the anger and the ridiculousness that the rhetoric here in washington and around the country has gotten to. but there are so many examples of this that are really troubling, from debbie dingell in michigan getting her district broken into and vandalized, a democrat to republican, fred upton and other republicans having death threats on their voice mails. it has reached a level that is incredibly scary, and there is nobody in the leadership on the republican side right now trying in an earnest way to bring the temperature down, and that is what is so troubling. >> votes for bipartisan packages, right? >> and that lack of effort too. it's not only troubling just on

a moral front, i guess you could say, or just on a human level, but the other part that is so frustrating and maddening is really it all comes down to politics, dana. this is not about i'm not going to say anything because we want to retake the house, we'll use whatever means necessary, and it seems for kevin mccarthy it's not not saying anything publicly because he wants to do everything he can to ideally become speaker. >> that's exactly right. it's really as simple as that. now, he has made public through v th a spokesperson at least over the weekend and late friday night that he was trying to organize this call. well, we know now that the call happened and it went horribly. not only did it not help, it made things worse. and so the question is whether or not there is any more effort behind the scenes to try to calm it down, because you said it perfectly, erica.

the reality is that kevin mccarthy wants to be speaker. at the very least, he wants to remain republican leader depending on what happens in 2022. and he doesn't want to anger or alienate some of the people who will vote to make him that, even though they are doing outlandish things that most people in the republican party, to be fair, think is absolutely beyond the pale. i mean, whether you're talking to republican members of congress or republican governors, as i have, they all say this has got to stop, but it's another thing when you have a political goal, and that is to try to placate this. there are some people and some actions that are not placatable, if that's a word. >> showing basic respect to another human being and their faith. so the boebert-omar divide is

between a democrat and republican, but you have it within the republican party because you had republican congresswoman nancy mace crit criticize lauren boebert's comments so marjorie taylor greene takes a shot at her. >> the congresswomen are in opposite parties, but this isn't about party. this is about decency. this is about morality. this is about what is wrong and right in setting the tone and the tenor for what should be appropriate discourse. and that is gone. that is completely gone within the realm of politics right now, and it is because there is not only no shame in saying these outrageous things like effectively calling your fellow member of congress a terrorist, they are applauded for it in their very small silos of the world. and so they are encouraged to

keep going. and there's no other example than the one you showed which is that even fellow republicans, new republicans like nancy mace of south carolina, she's not exactly a liberal, just the opposite, she's saying this is wrong. >> as you say, it's about respect. your point is a smart one, that this is not accidental for some to seek political advantage in this, forgetting in the process they're all americans. dana bash, than very much. >> thank you. ahead, three judges on the d.c. circuit court of appeals asking former president donald trump's lawyers this morning why he should control his white house records when president biden says they should be released. the latest from court and when, if at all, those documents will be released, could be released. that's coming up. ♪

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- san francisco can have criminal justice reform and public safety. but district attorney chesa boudin is failing on both. - the safety of san francisco is dependent upon chesa being recalled as soon as possible. - i didn't support the newsom recall but this is different. - chesa takes a very radical perspective and approach to criminal justice reform, which is having a negative impact on communities of color. - i never in a million years thought that my son, let alone any six-year-old, would be gunned down in the streets of san francisco and not get any justice. - chesa's failure has resulted in increase in crime against asian americans. - the da's office is in complete turmoil at this point. - for chesa boudin to intervene in so many cases

is both bad management and dangerous for the city of san francisco. - we are for criminal justice reform. chesa's not it. recall chesa boudin now. lawyers for former president trump are arguing that they need to keep key documents secret from the house select committee investigating the gymnajanuary insurrection. >> trump has tried to assert executive privilege over hundreds of pages of documents. lawyers argue even out of office he has the power to shield his records from prying eyes.

ef ran perez, any tea leave reading from inside the court so far? >> yeah, jim and erica. this is not going so well right now for the president's team. they are facing a very skept cam audience right now in this three-judge panel. one of the judges, jackson, who is hearing this says this all boils down to who decides when it is in the best interests of the united states to disclose presidential records. is it the current president of the united states or the former? all three judges seem skeptical of the idea that the former president has the right to block records from being disclosed to congress when the current president has already waived executive privilege citing the extraordinary nature of what happened on january 6th, citing the idea that what happened on january 6th deserves for congress to investigate and

prevent it from happening again. we know that the former president lost already in this courthouse with another judge in the lower court who said presidents are not kings. and the former president is no longer president. so we'll see how this argument wraps up. but right now, trump's legal team is trying to rely on a nixon-era supreme court ruling to try to say that even though he's no longer president, he still has the right essentially to overrule the current sitting president of the united states. erica, jim? >> evan, thank you. with us former federal prosecutor shan wu. we heard from evan, a skeptical audience he described it talking about the panel. you said the trump's argument is fairly weak in your view, even if this panel agrees, the reality is we are not likely done. this will keep moving forward and could end up before the supreme court. is that inevitable, do you think, at this point?

>> i think that is inevitable. whichever way it goes, it will have to go to the supreme court. and i think that, you know, the court -- the supreme court is probably going to fast track it as much as they can. the d.c. circuit has been moving quickly, but the issues here certainly trump's team wants to drag it out so they'll go to the supreme court. the issues probably deserve them to take a look at it. >> what do you anticipate that outcome could be? we know how important, how lasting the implication of that decision will be. >> i think that the supreme court, if i'm reading my tea leaves right, is probably going to rule against the trump team here for the reasons that the district court laid out very well in that very well analyzed opinion. i think for the same reason the d.c. circuit will rule against him, which is he's put all his eggs in the one basket, this notion as a former president he can still control the privilege,

which is simply wrong. not only that, they've also kind of engaged in some hyperbole by saying if you allow this waiver of executive privilege to be assigned, it will tear apart the whole fabric of the separation of powers. that's really wrong. this is an extraordinary incident. congress certainly has to look at it. but it's the very fact that it's extraordinary that makes it less likely to have substantial use going forward. it's just not going to arise all that often. i think the supreme court will be aware of that. they're really going to focus on the question of who should be deciding, a current president or a former president? the answer is certainly the current president. >> in terms of that administration and balance of power, how important is that for this court? >> it's always important for the districts court as well as the court of appeals. i think that's probably why the supreme court would take the case. there's this argument that the balance of powers will be torn apart.

but i don't think they're going to see it that way. actually, the process itself shows that it's working its way properly through the system. there's basically a disagreement within the executive branch right now where the current executive, the president, says this should go forward. congress wants it, a former executive says no. it's the kind of thing courts should determine. >> you said that's why the supreme court would take it up. is there any scenario where the supreme court does not? >> i think that's unlikely. they don't have -- they're not required to take up cases. it's discretionary on their part. it's theoretically possible. that would be quite a slap in the face to the trump team. >> it would be quite a statement. >> it would be. and it is possible. i think it depends on how well reasoned and how arctic lated the reasons are put forth by the d.c. circuit if they rule against him. but the supreme court has discretionary jurisdiction. they don't have to take it.

>> we'll will watching. than, good to see you. >> thanks. still ahead, the second day of the iran nuclear talks under way in vienna, austria. the discussion today will center on sanctions, a key issue. why the white house says they have, quote, other options if diplomacy fails. it fits your high standards. why have over two million people welcomed bath fitter into their homes? it just fits. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on inside. it's true, with diabetic retinopathy, excess sugar can damage blood vessels, causing vision loss or even blindness. so remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is important to your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. visit noweyesee.com and take control of your sight.

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iran is expressing a willingness and seriousnd to reach a deal but not unless u.s. sanctions are lifted. talks began monday with the u.s. warning iran against further enrichment. the european's secretary-general told reporters something has to change for the sake of nuclear security and the people of iran. joining us ambassador richard haass, the author of "the world: a brief introduction." so they tried these talks earlier in the year. they fell apart. iran's now run by a harder-line government than even the previous one, which is pretty hardline as they come. you say talks are unlikely to succeed. why is the administration making a go at this now? >> the reason the administration wants to make a go at this is take step back, think about the

foreign policy. one of the things they've tried to do is dial down on foreign policy in general, particularly on the middle east. they want to focus on domestic issues, they might want to focus on china. the last thing they want is for the united states to become embroiled in the middle east. so the best thing from the administration's point of view is to make this issue go away for five or ten years, and in their view the best way to do that is to get both countries to reenter the 2015 agreement. >> so iran is closer today, perhaps just a number of weeks away, from the breakout moment, having enough fissile materials to make a bomb. they were under the iran nuclear deal. what are the other options if diplomacy fails here, then? >> first of all, i'd say even if diplomacy succeeds, it doesn't solve the problem of iran. there's questions about secret nuclear activity that might continue, important parts of the agreement expire in a number of

years, plus the agreement never limited iranian behavior around the region, support of terrorism, things like that. if, however, it fails, the alternatives it seems to me is probably living without any formal arms control but a set of red lines. i know the expression has come under more than a little criticism. iran would understand the limits to israeli or american tolerance to certain behavior and would be hopefully incentivized to do certain things or not do others. >> israel, and this is consistent under the biden administration, through trump, and now biden, lobbying against negotiation, lifting of sanctions. is there a possibility here -- and israel is doing a whole host of assassinations and cyberattacks -- of israel taking action unilaterally against iranian facilities if it deems the u.s. is going too far in the direction of diplomacy? >> absolutely. we have some historical precedence for that in the past.

israeli actions against iraq and syria. this is seen as a mortal threat in israel across its political spectrum. yes, if they sense the administration was too committed to arms control or not ready to use force and they thought iran was crossing one of their red lines, absolutely. they would be prepared to use military force and figure the u. u.s./israeli relationship would get through it. >> ukraine, the public warnings from nato leaders, from the u.s. and others about russian military activity, frankly other sorts of activity, allegation of a plot targeting the ukrainian president over the weekend, are growing louder. what is your read of that situation there? do you see any sign of russia heeding those warnings, dialing back a little bit? or would you say the threat of a general full-scale invasion is still very real today? >> unfortunately, i think the threat of it is what you describe as a genuine full-scale

invasion, almost world war ii-like against ukraine is very much alive, totally consistent with what mr. putin has said and written, consistent with their military buildup, and what didn't happen at the time of crimea, he thinks, yeah, he old have to face some economic sanctions, but he is not expecting, i would sthink anything but a ukrainian military response. >> one nightmare scenario that's been mentioned to me by a number of people briefed on the intelligence is a possibility of two things happening at once, and that is that russia acts on ukraine and china perhaps acts on taiwan. no hard intelligence on this but just viewed as what would we do if? what do you view the current threat to taiwan from china, which has been rattling the sabre about taking over or reclaiming, as it says, taiwan for a number of years now, but the u.s. pentagon views as a very imminent threat?

>> i wouldn't call it imminent, because imminence is a function of capability and intentions. i think the chinese have created much more of a threat, much more of a capability. they're buildingi ing up, but i would be an enormous roll of the dice, given the economic sanctions they would face, military uncertainties, all that. i can't rule out a nightmare scenario if something happened with iran. they made a dash for nuclear weapons. but my own view is the chinese are still some years away, most likely, from being in a position where they're confident they can move against taiwan in a convincing fashion. the challenge for us is over these few years to strengthen deterrence so xi jinping is dissuaded from ever making such a move. >> becoming more public. ambassador richard haass, always good to have you break it down for us. >> thank you, jim.

exactly 55 years after gaining independence from the uk, the caribbean island of barbados has now severed its last tie -- look at that rainbow -- to the british monarchy by removing queen elizabeth as head of state and declaring itself a republic. the first ever president was sworn in on the island nation. >> on behalf of a grateful nation but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero of barbados, ambassador robin rihanna fenti. may you continue to shine like a diamond. >> barbados says plans remain part of the british commonwealth but will now decide on a new constitution. still to come, jury selection begins in the case against kim potter, the former minnesota police officer accused

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one of the most important things you can do is to make sure you call 811 before you dig. calling 811 to get your lines marked: it's free, it's easy, we come out and mark your lines, we provide you the information so you will dig safely. jury selection is under way in the trial of kim potter. >> a 26-year veteran of the brooklyn center police officer is facing two counts of manslaughter after fatally

shooting 20-year-old daunte wright in a traffic stop back in april. she says she mistook her taser -- her ginnun for taser. adrienne broaddus has more. what's the latest this morning? >> reporter: jury selection is under way. it began with judge chu asking the potential juror asset of preliminary questions. they were not to respond verbally but by show of hands. and at this hour, panelists or panel member number two is on the stand answering questions by kim potter's defense attorney earl gray. now, those of you who may be unfamiliar with this case, it dates back to april. that's when all eyes were on the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin. during the middle of that trial, about 11 miles away from a suburb of minneapolis, in brooklyn center, kim potter attempted to pull over daunte

wright for a traffic violation. he had an air freshener hanging from his rear-view mirror, which is illegal in minnesota. as they were attempting to take him into custody, wright entered his vehicle and potter yelled on that body cam video, "taser, taser, taser." and she mistakenly -- she says she mistakenly pulled her taser -- her gun instead of her taser. yesterday, members of daunte wright's family and supporters spoke out. listen in. >> daunte wright was a student of mine at edison high school. he was a joy, and his smile would light up this room a thousand times. >> reporter: and that was courtney rolf speaking, a former educator of daunte wright as well as the former girlfriend of

george floyd. and erica and jim, it's really crucial, a lot of folks are saying this video is going to play a critical role. we've seen how video in cases have played a role before. even in the case of derek chauvin, we saw the cell phone video, but once trial started, all angles from body cam video was essential. back to you. >> adrienne broaddus, appreciate the update. thank you. thanks so much to all of you for joining us today on a busy news day. i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm erica hill. stay tuned. "at this hour" with kate bolduan starts after this break. we've been waiting all year to come together. -it worked! happy holidays from lexus. get 1.9% apr financing

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i'm kate bolduan. extreme measures -- japan taking a major step to try to prevent the spread of the omicron variant. other nations considering how far they will go. executive privilege. lawyers for donald trump in court right now hoping to block insurrection investigators from getting their hands on his presidential records all centered around that shameful day in american history. and the opioid crisis. how the pandemic has pushed drug overdose deaths to a record high. thank you for being here, everyone. at this hour, we are following